Brand audit
Consumer expectations study
Regardless of your company’s experience and client and market knowledge, regular customer research remains an important element of professional marketing.We are experienced in various types of marketing (customer) researches, both standard ones including focus groups, retail audit, assessment of brand awareness and brand loyalty, and ad hoc exercises (where the research format is tailored to specific needs of a brand).Great attention is paid to the proper planning of the research, namely, to goal setting, selection of the most efficient research tools, development of questionnaires etc.
Competition analysis
Scrupulous and diligent search for source data (both from public sources and from purchased professional reports) as well as examination of the sectoral experts’ opinions provide for justified conclusions about the brand’s position with respect to its immediate and indirect competitors, main sources of competition threat and weaknesses of competitors that would allow seizing their market share.Based on the above mentioned data, we can also forecast the competition dynamics in your sector.This analysis may be valuable both as a stand-alone exercise and as a component of a brand development effort.
Map of market
If we use military terminology, the market map is a picture of the ‘battlefield’ (in the marketing area this will be the awareness of the brand clientele, both existing and potential), detailing the ‘terrain’ features and location of the most valuable items located there (i.e. core client segments and groups of requirements), as well as the positions of the ‘enemy’ (i.e. strong competitor brands that settled down in the clients’ mind.The market map is based on the professional marketing information (e.g. resulting from researches detailed in previous sections).The market map contains both qualitative and quantitative information:The scope and value (in monetary terms) of the market segments;Competitor brands’ loyalty levels etc.
Brand positions
Selection of the market segment (segments) where core brand operations and resources will be concentrated is a very important strategic decision to be made by our Client.The consultant’s role includes professional, justified and understandable explanation of benefits and weaknesses of each alternative, presentation of further development scenarios and their risks and threats.Considering the current status of your brand in the market, we may also forecast the outcomes of the brand up-marketing (increase in the ‘price status’) or down-marketing (expansion of the target customers and brand democratisation).Since several strong players may claim the same segment in a competitive market, this process will also include the unique market positioning of you brand.
Brand platform audit
A brand platform is a well-defined brand ideology that reflects its substance and properties. A properly detailed platform ensures a clear vision of the brand development direction and an understanding of the means that should and should not be used in the course of this development.For the purposes of your brand platform design we use generally accepted theoretical models enhanced by our wide experience and our intuition.The brand platform is based on the processed and ‘digested’ information on the market, competition, consumers and their expectations, culture existing in the specific market etc.This is the most ‘creative’ link in the chain of services related to the set-up and development of the future brand. At this stage the consultant will make an equal use of his (her) analytical and creative skills.
Brand book
Brand book is a very important tool in the organisation of advertising and other marketing activities of a brand.This book describes the ‘handling rules’ for all attributes inherent in the TM advertising activities: a logo, corporate colours etc.Depending on the company’s sector of operation, size, cost and number of advertising messages, we recommend following content of the brand book:
- Soft copy templates and printouts of ALL permanent creative elements of the brand attributes;
- Detailed instructions for the work with the logotype: size, colours, background, location, possible modifications depending on the medium and combinations with other graphic elements;
- Possible use of several logotypes (e.g. with other logotypes of your company and of other companies in the course of event sponsorship etc.);
- Rules of handling the graphic version of the brand slogan and its relation to the logotype (in a similar manner);
- Description of corporate colours;
- Hidden or allegorical version of the logotype (e.g. when advertising opportunities are limited);
- Corporate fonts and font sizes;
- Official document templates;
- Templates of graphic advertising messages (for magazines, newspapers, outdoor advertising etc.);
- Description and samples of the voice timbre and music for video and audio messages;
- Other, depending on the company operation and brand specifics.